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Sarah Vandaiyar: Oil and gas a great career for young professionals

Oil and natural gas provide opportunities and challenges for young professionals looking to grow, make a difference.

Feb 27, 2019

Sarah Vandaiyar is a pipeline engineer with TC Energy. She's also the president and CEO of the Young Pipeliners Association of Canada (YPAC). She says Canada's oil and natural gas industry offers tremendous opportunities and challenges for the next generation of young professionals looking to learn, grow and truly make a difference for both the economy and the environment.

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Video transcript:

So my family does have a history in oil and gas. My dad was a commercial diver with Total for many years. One thing I really admired about his work there was that with a lot of grit, passion and determination he was able to move up fairly quickly. That’s a real testament to what the oil and gas industry is for many people – it’s a place where they can make a contribution to the industry and provide for their families as well.

So with a degree in chemical engineering you can go into quite a few things – pharmaceuticals, medicine, oil and gas. I chose to work in the oil and gas industry because right out of school, it was the industry that was continuing to grow and as a young professional that was where I wanted to start my career.

There’s a push to get better. There are so many interesting challenges that we’re facing right now. This is a place where you want to be part of the conversation and work towards a better future.I care a lot about the environment and it’s great to know that I work in an industry that also aligns with my values around how we treat the environment when we’re working on different projects.

The Young Pipeliners Association of Canada (YPAC) is a group of young professionals all across the country. I think what YPAC provides is a real opportunity to be immersed in the industry, to work alongside some of the most senior industry specialists. YPAC is a really important part of how we’re going to build out the next generation of leaders in the industry. We as an industry will have to become a lot more transparent, a lot more vocal about what we do. I think it’s really important to support the Canadian oil and gas industry because it’s a significant driver in the Canadian economy.

My name is Sarah Vandaiyar. I’m a project engineer at TransCanada and I’m also the president and CEO of the Young Pipeliners Association of Canada.

About Context: Energy Examined magazine

This magazine website is published by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers as part of an ongoing dialogue with Canadians. Context: Energy Examined aims to provide an engaging insider’s perspective for the public. Articles range from features on key and timely industry issues, profiles of people working in Canada’s oil and gas sector and educational content designed to build industry knowledge. Content is edited by CAPP Communications; questions on editorial content may be referred to context@capp.ca.